


Hapotei

by eternaleponine



Series: Clexathon 2016 [3]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Birthday, F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-06
Updated: 2016-12-06
Packaged: 2018-09-07 00:18:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8775661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eternaleponine/pseuds/eternaleponine
Summary: "When is your birthday?" Clarke asked."What's a birthday?" Lexa answered.Or, Clarke discovers that Grounders don't keep track of birthdays, and employs the Nightbloods to help her surprise Lexa with one.





	

"When is your birthday?" Clarke asked, her fingers playing idly with a strand of Lexa's hair, twisting it up into a curl and then letting it loose again. 

"Mm?" Lexa shifted slightly, careful not to dislodge Clarke's head from its place on her shoulder. "What's a birthday?"

"What's a—" Clarke pushed herself up on her elbow, staring down at Lexa in disbelief. "What do you mean, 'what's a birthday'? It's the day you were born. The day that you celebrate every year...?" Was it possible that Grounders didn't celebrate birthdays? It seemed like they would have more reason than anyone to want to celebrate surviving another year in this world. 

Lexa shrugged. "That isn't one of our customs," she said. 

"So you don't know when you were born?"

Lexa shook her head. "When is _your_ birthday?"

"October 24th," Clarke said. 

"And what day is it today?" Lexa asked. 

Clarke's forehead furrowed as she realized that she didn't actually know. Her mother probably did; as far as she knew the people of the Ark were still keeping track of the days, just as they always had. The baby that had been born while Clarke was there in Arkadia probably had an official birth record and a birthday and everything. Why wouldn't she? Her birth was something that the whole colony was celebrating. She was the first baby born to the Skaikru since they landed here on earth. Her parents had named her Terra. 

Of course Clarke's first thought when her mother had told her the news was whether or not the other clans would see the fact that the Skaikru was reproducing as a threat. They might try to read more into the fact that their population was increasing, and would likely to continue to increase, than just the fact that that was what people did, when given the chance. They were fruitful, and they multiplied. 

It wasn't as if the people of Arkadia saw Grounders having children as a threat... except some of them probably did, actually. Which was another headache that Clarke would be forced to deal with. 

So was it any wonder that she didn't really think in terms of dates anymore? She just worried about today and tomorrow, and maybe someday... that nebulous time in the future that she had evoked in what she had thought would be her parting words to Lexa, when she'd thought she would be able to say goodbye and walk away from her...

She had, eventually... but not right away. And she'd come back. Every time she left Polis, she came back. Her role as an ambassador was part of it – maybe some people believed most of it, and she let them – but more than anything, she came back for this. For Lexa. For the moments they stole where they were not _Heda_ and _Wanheda_ but Clarke and Lexa, just two young women who had been born or forced into roles that it was impossible to be prepared for, at least completely, and that they struggled to bear the weight of day in and day out, but it was easier when they shared the load.

"You see?" Lexa said, her tone teasing when Clarke failed to come up with an answer to the calendar question. 

"So you don't even know how old you are?" Clarke asked.

" _Heda_ is eternal," Lexa replied, her tone still teasing, but it had taken on a weight, a gravity that tugged the curve of her lips downward, just a little. 

"I'm not talking about _Heda_ ," Clarke said. "I'm talking about _you_."

"You cannot separate the two," Lexa said, and now her smile was gone. "I am the Commander."

"But you _can_ ," Clarke said. "You _can_ separate the two. You told me—"

"Only in death," Lexa said. "Only—"

"That's not true, though," Clarke said. "When the ambassadors tried to stage a coup, when Queen Nia challenged you, they held a vote of no confidence. If they had all voted against you, you would have stepped down as Commander. That's what you said."

Lexa nodded. "It's never been done," she said, her voice soft. "I don't know what would happen if the Flame was taken from a living host. I don't actually know if it's possible to willingly surrender it."

Clarke felt her eyes go wide as realization settled that Lexa had offered up her life to the will of her people, not knowing whether what she had said she would do might kill her. If she hadn't been there, if she hadn't voted against it...

"Shh," Lexa murmured, wrapping her arms around Clarke and pulling her back down again, holding her close. "It's okay," she whispered, her lips brushing Clarke's skin. "We're safe."

They were. For now. Clarke would have to take that. But as she'd once said, what seemed a lifetime ago, life was about more than just surviving. It was more than just one day after the next after the next. At some point you had to acknowledge that that added up to something.

And she had an idea.

* * *

If love was weakness, then she was not the only chink in Lexa's armor. Clarke had seen the way that she looked at the younger Nightbloods, the children who would one day kill each other to claim the honor of taking her place... Clarke shuddered and pushed the thought aside. They would change that too, somehow. They had to. She couldn't stomach the thought of losing Lexa, and then having to watch children slaughter each other. 

_Jus nou drein jus daun._

It might have been wrong of her to exploit the affection that Lexa felt for the kids, but she decided that it was worth whatever censure might come her way. It wasn't as if anything she was asking them to do would harm them, or even break any rules that she was aware of. And Lexa's feelings for them were entirely mutual; she loved them and they loved her right back. So when she approached them, quietly, when Lexa wasn't around, and outlined her plan to them, it didn't take long until she had every single one of them in on it.

It was Aden that she sent to fetch Lexa when everything was ready, because of all of them he was the one that she most trusted, and that Lexa would be most likely to follow when he asked her to come. Clarke also judged him to be the one who was least likely to give the game up without meaning to. 

The path that he led her on would take her through the streets of Polis, and along the way the other Nightbloods waited. When they saw Aden and Lexa approaching, they raced ahead to alert the next in the relay, so that by the time they got to the edge of the city, and the little glade that Clarke had found (or been shown, really, because they'd told her that it was a place that Lexa liked, that she took them to sometimes when the weather was too good to stay inside for lessons) she knew that they were approaching, and she made sure that everything was ready.

Finally they stepped through the trees and into the clearing, and the gathered Nightbloods chorused, "Happy birthday, _Heda_!" before stepping aside and revealing Clarke behind them.

Lexa blinked, and blinked again, and for a second Clarke thought that she might be angry, because her jaw was working like it did when she was trying not to say something that she knew wouldn't be diplomatic. But the tension eased after a moment, and finally, _finally_ she started to smile. "You put them up to this?" she asked.

" _Sha, Heda_ ," Clarke said with a bow that was equal parts respect and teasing. "Happy birthday."

"It's not my birthday," Lexa said.

"You don't know that," Clarke said. "If you don't know when your birthday is, then any day can be your birthday. And I decided that it's today."

Lexa shook her head, but she was already looking around, taking in the food that had been laid out on a slightly ragged blanket, all of the things that Aden and the others had told her were Lexa's favorites, and that they had managed to beg from whoever was responsible for keeping them fed. There were perks to being a potential future commander, and her name, she'd discovered, carried more weight than she'd expected with some people. In the end, it had gotten her all of the things that she'd wanted for the celebration, and then some. 

"Are you just going to look at it, or are you going to sit down and enjoy it?" Clarke asked. 

"There's enough here..."

"For all of us, I hope," Clarke said. "That was the plan, anyway."

And now Lexa's smile truly bloomed, making its way all the way to her eyes, and for a second Clarke wondered if she would forget herself, forget where they were and how many sets of eyes were on them... but of course she didn't. She couldn't. That wasn't an option for her, for them, and probably never would be. Clarke picked up a berry and bit into it, letting the sweet juice wash away the bitterness of the thought.

After Lexa had seated herself, the Nightbloods scattered themselves on the ground nearby, and what had seemed like an impossible amount of food moments before suddenly seemed like it would only just stretch enough that everyone got some. 

"Nut cake," Lexa said. "My favorite." But even that she shared out, cutting it into equal pieces even though it meant that she only got a few bites of the dense, sweet treat. It shouldn't have surprised Clarke, though. It was just who Lexa was. She gave all of herself to her people, and these kids meant more than anyone to her. 

More than anyone except, perhaps, for Clarke. 

"I can't believe you did this," she said softly. "This is..." But she seemed to be at a loss for words, and instead she did what Clarke had never imagined she ever would. She leaned in and kissed her, there in front of everyone, and it was sweet and not just because of the honey that clung to her lips but because it felt like the sun breaking through the clouds and opening up a world of new possibilities. 

The moment was shattered by the whistles and cheers of the Nightbloods. Lexa turned and said something in Trigedesleng that Clarke didn't understand, but given Lexa's tone and the children's laughter, was probably the Grounder equivalent of 'Go float yourselves'. 

After that, the Nightbloods got up and began to play games, children for once instead of future commanders, and Lexa watched them for a while, her fingers laced through Clarke's, because now their secret wasn't a secret so what did it matter?

"You trust them?" Clarke asked.

"With my life," Lexa said. 

One of the youngest of them (or at least she looked like she was one of the youngest, but it could just be that she was small and had a round face) approached a little while later, holding out a wreath of flowers. Lexa ducked her head so that she could crown her. "Thank you," she said. 

" _Heda_?" she asked, shy or uncertain.

"Yes?"

"When is my birthday?"

Lexa glanced at Clarke, who mouthed, 'Sorry,' because she hadn't considered the fact that this might open a can of worms. Then she looked back at the girl, who Clarke remembered was called Livia, and said, "Today."

"It can't be today," Livia said. "Today is your birthday."

"More than one person can have the same birthday," Lexa said. "Right, Clarke?"

"Of course," Clarke said. "There are only 365 days in a year, and there are more than 365 people. So everyone shares with someone."

"See? So today can be your birthday, too."

"What about me?" one of the boys asked. "When is my birthday?"

"Today," Lexa said.

"And me?" another asked.

"Today," Lexa said again. 

"We can't _all_ have the same birthday!" one of them protested.

"Why not?" Lexa asked. "We are all _Natblida_ , are we not? We share the same blood, and the same destiny. Why should we not all share a birthday as well?"

Which seemed to settle it, as far as they were concerned, and they went back to their games. After a few minutes, Lexa looked over at Clarke and grinned, and then pulled her up and they went to join them. Because growing older was inevitable, and growing up for them had happened far too quickly. But maybe, just for today, they could be children again too.

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally written for [Thprocrastinationmaster](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Thprocrastinationmaster/pseuds/Thprocrastinationmaster) for her birthday, and I'm posting it for mine. Or technically a day ahead of mine, since mine falls on a normal chapter day.
> 
> Enjoy!


End file.
